Nigeria and Chelsea iconic midfielder John Mikel Obi revealed that he felt robbed following loss of the 2013 African Player of the Year to Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure.
Mikel helped Chelsea to a Europa League title and also won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria same year but lost the accolade to Ivorian star Toure who only inspired Manchester City to a runners-up spot in the FA Cup.
The retired Super Eagles midfield maestro bemoaned his unimaginable snub, claiming that he was told by organizers that he had won the award to get him to travel for the award ceremony.
“I was robbed, mate. Before I went, I was told that I’d won it,” Mikel told Dubaieye.
I was at the airport flying to Nigeria, because the ceremony was in Nigeria, and guess what happened? Manchester City was playing, and Yaya scored a hat-trick or two goals.
“I won the Africa Cup of Nations and the Europa League, and the year before that, I won the Champions League [and was] man of the match in the final.
“I was in my prime playing lots of games at that period as well, so you couldn’t say I wasn’t playing” Mikel added before talking about the effects his not winning the 2013 African POTY award had on the ceremony.
“You could have seen the ceremony. Before it [the award] was announced, everybody left the stage.”
